Showing results by narrator "Anne Hancock" in All Categories

Ben has been tramping for two weeks when he's discovered, nearly starving, by a widow and her two little girls. Mrs. Moss feeds and clothes him and gets him a job with the local Squire. But herding cows is boring for an active boy and he's about to take to the road again when the lovely Miss Celia, owner of the Big House (bordered by lilacs!) arrives and hires him to do odd jobs and be the company for her teenage invalid brother.

Fun-loving socialite Tasha Endicott is stranded at a deserted small-town train station on her way to a house party. Caught in a fierce blizzard and poorly dressed for the weather (she loses a bejeweled party slipper in the snow), she's saved from certain death when minister Thurley MacDonald appears and carries her home to his mother. Thurley is a minister, and he and his loving mother adhere to strict interpretations of the Bible. It is a strange but intriguing world to Tasha, and when it's time for her to leave, she finds her own life somewhat vacuous.

Immediately after the death of the aunt who raised her, Joyce Radway's cousins treat her like a servant. They even attempt to block her from taking exams to qualify as a teacher and earn her own living. Angered by their constant demands, she impulsively grabs her hat and purse and runs to her aunt's grave to weep and rest. But she's not alone; thieves are using the cemetery to hide stolen goods, and she's heartsick to discover their leader is a man she once knew and admired.

Shirley Hollister is desperate. She, her ailing mother, and her four siblings are being forced out of their cramped city apartment. Where to go on her meager stenographer's salary? On a whim, she takes a trolley ride into the countryside and spies a barn: spacious, full of light, and surrounded by God's wondrous nature. Her new landlord, Sidney Graham, is intrigued by this lovely young woman and her plans to turn his abandoned barn into a home.

"A Simple Soul" is the perfect Gustave Flaubert short story: a tale told in spare, straightforward language full of richly observed details. The "soul" is Felicite, the exemplary servant of the austere Madame Aubin. Orphaned and illiterate, Felicite devotes her life to her mistress and Madame's two children. Her kindheartedness extends to her nephew and a local beggar, but it is seldom reciprocated.

Adam Bates, the Land King of Hartley, Indiana, rules his 16 children with a firm hand and a tight purse. All work tirelessly on the family farm until the sons, at 21, are given 200 acres of land with a house and barn (they pay the taxes while their father holds the deeds). The daughters, at 18, get a term at Normal School to train as schoolteachers, a position they hold until they marry. Kate, the youngest, has always bristled at her father's preference for his sons but eagerly awaits her chance for further education. Her father has other plans.

Ramona Ortegna, the foster child of Señora Moreno, is much loved by all who live and work at the Moreno ranch, except Señora herself, who cannot bring herself to think of the girl as anything but a mixed-blood child. Half white, half Indian, Ramona had been adopted by the Senora’s sister who then entrusted the child to her upon her death. Already embittered by the loss to the Americans of much of her southern California land as the result of the 1846 Mexican-American War, the pious old woman is also distraught by the near destruction of California’s Catholic missions.

Eldest son Colt Garrett is the biggest, strongest, and steadiest of the Garrett brothers. Colt accepts his responsibilities, knowing his future is tied to the land. Colt has stayed centered - but when he falls in love, he falls hard. He is mesmerized by Misty Dalton, the younger sister of one of his brother's friends.  

The sudden death of the father of the family results in the drastic reduction of the Careys' income and they must leave their comfortable home in Boston. Nancy Carey, the eldest, recalls a vacation in Maine when they all picnicked in the garden of a big, vacant house that her father loved. She discovers that the house is available, the rent is cheap, and persuades her mother that life in The Yellow House in Beulah, Maine is the perfect place to begin their new life.

Sixteen-year-old Effie Martin is in trouble. No one in her family understands her, some mean girls refuse to invite her to their picnic, her clothes are a mess, and she's mad at the world. Impulsively, she hops on her bike and soon finds herself in the middle of a drama where she saves the day. Her heroic act becomes a turning point in her life.

Elza is content with her life in the demi-monde, an actress and courtesan in the glittering society of France's First Empire, but when her former lover is arrested for treason, she’s blackmailed into informing on her friends and associates. She has one alternative - to become the secret agent of the most feared man in Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte! Elza must rely on her wits, her courage, her beauty, and her growing talents as a medium she must triumph - or die!

"Collision!" is the only explanation Gail Desmond hears as the ocean liner lists toward the sea. In the chaos that follows, she finds herself alone on deck with a stranger who lashes her to a makeshift raft. Moments later, she finds him floating unconscious and hauls him aboard.

Mrs. Blencarrow is a lovely middle-aged widow with five adoring children and a comfortable income with which to raise them. She holds a position of admiration and respect in her strictly Victorian village society. But the good lady who seems beyond reproach has a secret, and not all her neighbors wish her well. When one of them stumbles upon incriminating information, Mrs. Blencarrow stands to lose everything she holds dear ... Originally published in 1890 by Margaret Oliphant, a keen and prolific chronicler of the strict laws and customs of her time.

Elsie Hathaway has it all: beauty, brains, and a strong work ethic. Taken in by her aunt's loving family after her mother's death, Elsie has had every advantage and earned every honor her school bestows. Her older brothers and her father remained in the family home and over the years their visits to each other were sporadic. But one day she drops by unannounced and discovers that this is the place where she is needed most.

The Lycett-Landons are a well-to-do Victorian family living in a large, comfortable house across the river from bustling Liverpool. The father, Robert, is a partner in a thriving business; his wife Eleanor has the care of the house and six children to occupy her; and Horace, the eldest, is looking forward to moving to London to work in the family firm. But trouble is brewing. The London office is in distress, and Robert must go there often to straighten things out. When the length of his visits becomes more extended, his family worries that he has taken ill and doesn't want to concern them.

A great building boom spread across America in the 1920s and the Fawcett Construction Company of New York has many projects in the pipeline. Carol Berkley, private secretary to the company's president, keeps track of them all and is particularly concerned about the lack of progress in a building out west. When two men who appear to have something to do with the project arrive to talk to her boss, she overhears them discussing plans to swindle the company. Their scheme is to share the spoils with the project's engineer, Philip Duskin.

Grace Livingston Hill’s three novels about 19 century small-town America remain relevant a century after they were first published. The timeless themes include the powerful influence of gossip, the importance of faith, and the precious gift of true friendship.

Zach Garrett is home from war, haunted by PTSD, trying to fit in to what has become an alien world. With the holidays fast approaching, his uncle Big Jim Garrett offers him a place on the family ranch. Zach isn't sure he's up for a noisy, boisterous Garrett Christmas...until he meets beautiful Stephanie Gale, and all his protests go up in flames. Firefighter and EMT Stephanie Gale is ready for anything. She's got her life under control...until she locks eyes with Zack and realizes her heart's in a whole new kind of danger. 

When Agnes Blakiston and her maid Maggie take possession of a rental house for the summer, their idea of a tranquil stay is almost immediately upended. First, there is the telephone. It rings late at night, just one ring, but there is never anyone on the line. They begin to notice things have moved during the night. A candle has burned low, and a shawl has disappeared. And then Maggie, spooked and suspicious, discovers a note. It's a confession to a murder. But who has written it and, equally confounding, who has been killed?

A prolific writer of Christian romances, Grace Livingston Hill also excelled in creating novels of suspense. These tales highlight three women who, through pluck and cleverness, strive to escape the menace that envelops them. (Of course, being GLH stories, there are always romantic possibilities!)